Smart Creative Women with Monica Lee

I had great fun interviewing Elle Luna about her work and her book The Crossroads of Should and Must.  Elle really hits home as she talks about what led her to quit her job and risk everything all in response to a recurring dream. (What?) This practical Virgo freaked out and got it at the same time. Elle is a prolific artist and now successful writer and speaker leading a movement to discover and follow your passion. She is no stranger to the practical aspects of life, she has a background in tech start ups and she lives in the Bay area where rents are not to be taken lightly! This book is SUCH a great gift to ANYONE making a life transition, graduate, career changes and to any artist girlfriend that needs some LOVE. I chimed in and suggested you buy 2 one for yourself and one for a friend! Tune in to this interview and she what see is all about!  Follow her on  instagram @elleluna along with 124K fans and see her beautiful sprit shine.

I ran across Katie's words of encouragement at just the right moment. She was at the Alt Summit conference on a panel of entrepreneurial women where she was telling the PUJ baby start up story and she said there was a pint where she had to "commit and make the leap." I sat in the audience and got teary eyed. I had to have her on the show. I was experiencing the "waver" I felt like I had been spinning in my own circles with very little results. I knew in my heart I was still "dating" other options in my own mind. Katie's words, commitment and wisdom are profoundly helpful. You are simply going to love her story and if you think you know her story-tune in, because she shares a side of her design story that she does not normally share. I mean just look at the brilliance of the Puj baby products, I knew that those ideas came from a pretty clever cookie. her Puj Tub folds flat and can be assembled with one hand (why, because Mom is holding a baby in the other hand!) The Puj

It was so much fun to chat with author Jon Acuff. Jon is the author of five books, including Quitter and the New York Times bestseller Start. For sixteen years he’s helped companies like the Home Depot, Bose, Staples, and AutoTrader.com tell their stories. He’s a well-known public speaker, and his blogs have been read by millions of fans. (shiny official bio) I found him to be an all around great human on the planet (and we need more people like that!)  He has a legion of followers whom he delights on a daily basis with self deprecating humor but when you tune in you will see he has loads of wisdom and heart to make your life better. In his most recent book, he tackles you and your career. Actually, he tackles himself first (nice of him)  which makes it easier to digest the nuggets that you can apply to yourself in this book.  With eye opening suggestions and straight out exercises, this is a great book to shake up yourself and your career in a good way. Great read, g

You just  have to meet my guest today! Carrie Schmitt has such story of triumph. She was diagnosed with a rare disease that made her allergic to heat that stopped her in her tracks, it even became life threatening. She had to completely alter her lifestyle and had to combat her way out of her depression about her situation. A voice inside her told her to learn to paint! Pretty amazing, right? Now, look at her go! What beautiful results! You simply have to listening to this interview. Carrie's determination is remarkable! She has turned into quite a savvy business woman, with a new book, and an interactive yoga/creativity e course. It was fun to hear give some tips on how she sets out to get press ;) You'll like it too! 

Fun! Today I am chatting with Meredith Mahoney founder of Birch Lane, one of Wayfair's newest brands. Birch Lane is a fabulous lifestyle/home decor brand specializing in what I consider the "new classic" look. You have to tune into today's episode to find out how Meredith put together this brand and what she thinks about the type of woman who shops at Birch Lane. Their customer is NOT old school traditional, she is "new school traditional" buying furniture to last and then layering in her space because SHE wants her environment to look and feel a certain way.   I loved hearing how Birch Lane "thinks" about their customer!  This view point can be applied to YOUR business no matter what the size. She and her team get it and the proof of that is the fast growth of Birch Lane this past year. Meredith and I also discuss the real life juggle of being a mom and an executive (always good to hear how woman are doing it!)

Fine artist and daily painter, Lisa Daria is my guest today!  I love having these types of conversations with women like Lisa, who really have great  insight into the creative process. Lisa is a daily painter producing a Daily Painting for the last 5 years!  Roughly 1,500 paintings, crazy impressive! Even on holidays and when she travels daily paintings are a part of her. That is just a part of her practice, she does commission work, has her art in galleries and she also teaches illustration at Mass College of Art. Her insight to getting the best work out of her students will help draw out the best work in YOU! I loved this chat and have been applying the tips she mentions in the interview to my own drawing. We also tackle the big elephant in the room, TIME. Lisa gave me some really interesting perspective on the ever elusive time management. Tune in to this episode! I appreciated her wisdom and so wi

I can't decide what I like more, Lisa Congdon's  diverseness as an artist or the perspective she has on making art. She is practical (and all that practical advice takes form in her new book Art Inc.) and she is wise. This is a great interview with good insight and I know you will like it. Lisa isn't quite the overnight success some people might think she is, she has been showing up for herself and her career since for some time now. She really has a heart for other artists success as she shares encouragement in this interview. I found her book Art, Inc down to earth. If you have questions about anything  regarding how to set yourself up as an art professional, this book touches on it. She cracked me up when she told me she had to edit out 20k words!! Tune into today's episode, whether you are just starting out or a seasoned professional, I think it will offer you some perspective that just may help you on your own journey.

I wanted to  share something with you that I recently caught myself doing! I was letting awful words come out of my mouth about my situation and my future! Yikes! That's not like me! But it can happen to a-n-y-o-n-e. What you speak over your life, your health, your career all have a powerful impact. Tune into to this  important episode as I talk about how when I changed my words, things began changing in my mind and then in real life. I talk about this scholarship that I am up for! (Thank you so much for voting and believing in me!! Voting closes midnight Sunday Mar 1st) and chandeliers, yup! All in one video/podcast because that's how I roll. Here is my challenge for you-do you think you might be speaking death/bad words/wrong things over you or your business? Have you been saying something is so hard business, motherhood, making money being creative, that now that's all you see the HARD parts not the joyful parts? Are you speaking out failure, frustration and then waiting  to s

I have one of my very favorite girly girls on the show today! It is always so much fun to talk to the sweet, Bella Pilar. You might recognize her work , it has been on everything from greeting cards to puzzles, phone cases and now it is on large canvas prints. You will enjoy hearing how she works (still hand paints!) and about the great relationships that she has with her clients. It's great to hear about an artist who genuinely loves what she is doing and Bella is a perfect example of  just that! Tune in to today's real life girlfriend chat

Today my guest the energetic,  Bari J. Ackerman. She is a fabric, designer, seamstress, artist and all around can-do woman. After this interview, I realized that Bari is a woman who is simply not afraid of anything. If she sets her mind to learn a new skill, she is just going to push up her sleeves and do it. She started out designing bags and then needed her own fabric for the bags...so what does she do? She taught herself to design fabrics digitally! She took her graphic artist skills, a Wacom tablet and she was off to the races. She has designed  sewing patterns, several best selling fabric lines and now she is on the March to have her designs on everything. Her tenacity is remarkable. If you are on the cusp of throwing in the towel on any project, tune into today's episode! Bari's example will light a fire under you! I love her motto: "If  you don't ask, you don't get!" 

Tara is one of my favorite guests! She is an expert of women's leadership and well being. I think she is an all around wise woman! She has packed her wisdom into her new book Playing Big.  It really is a must have for any woman's book shelf! You need this book, I need this book, your niece needs this book, your girlfriend...Listen to today's podcast to her us discuss this important book.  "Tara Mohr saw how women were "playing small" in their lives and careers, were frustrated by it, and wanted to "play bigger." She has devised a proven way for them to achieve their dreams by playing big from the inside out."

I just got back from Alt Summit (in time for a blizzard here tomorrow-sigh.) I wanted to do a quick podcast of an overall trend I see in the creative community and it is really good news. I came back refreshed and at peace as I solidified my own journey with Smart Creative Women, Smart Creative Style and with Monica Lee (the hand bags! YAY!!) Tune in to today's short podcast and hear my takeaways.  I know you will be excited, maybe even relieved to recognize this interesting trend, (think soft lapping waves instead of giant take the world by storm waves.) Ladies, this year more the ever is your year to flourish by being genuinely creative and by being the original spirit you were designed to be!! Links mentioned in the podcast: Smart Creative Style Newsletter, runs end of Feb. More info at Smart Creative Style. Jessica Swifts Pattern Camp,  runs Feb 7-8

Remember those hand writing lessons you had in school? Debi Sementelli certainly does! Debi has turned hand lettering and calligraphy into a profitable career-even after she put it all on hold to raise her children. Tune into the interview and learn how Debi reentered the creative workforce and hear how she sincerely believes her work can help other small businesses. She gives the ins and out and tech talk of what it is like to create fonts and  glyphs for fonts, yikes! It is an art for sure and her fonts have been selling like hotcakes! 

I met Kate virtually when I sat in on a webinar to learn about podcasting. What? I already have a podcast! Well, true confessions-when I first started pushing my 3 years worth of  Smart Creative Women interviews out into this new format, I had no idea how people even found the podcast.  I had Meghan, my intern, get me set up to go live onto iTunes and I knew certain tech aspects but I was not fully engaged in understanding the in's and outs of moving the interviews into audio format. (Not good.) I sat in on a webinar to introduce me to Podcasters Paradise and I saw some keying tech moves that I had not set up right AND they involved  my statistics! Ugh! Important if you are looking to work with sponsors. I am in the process of digging into this community and lessons to make sure I have my backend ;) set up right. I needed help-and fortunately in the process I found Kate, she  works along side her long time boyfriend John Lee Dumas, at Entrepreneur on

So today I want to hear from you! What does flourishing in 2015 mean to you? Since this is my theme word for 2015, I explored what it meant to flourish to me personally and I was surprised by my own answer! It involved risking taking which in turn, I realized makes me vulnerable to failure. I realized that my attitude about the  word "failure" could either stop me dead in my tracks or spur me on to greater innovation. Tune in to this short episode as I pull apart the beauty of stumbling around like a toddler trying new things. Then I want to hear from you in the comments, What does it mean to flourish this year (or even this week!!) for you? Let me know in the comments! Breaking it down can help, because if you want to walk on water...ya gotta get out of the boat! 

John Mavrakis and Melissa Schulz from Ideaologie have teamed up to form a strategic partnership to help businesses “holistically.” What do they mean by that? Well, for one, they believe that just like individuals, no two companies are exactly alike, and they have set out to help each client on an individual basis. Amen, to that! You know that I don’t like cookie cutter approaches either! The Ideaologie philosophy reads:  “Our years of experience have taught us that each company is unique and requires unique direction.  We know that companies must evolve and change with time and market conditions in order to be successful.  This success must be founded in and developed from a strong strategy for growth.” They have a great track record of solid experience, between the two of them they have worked with some very well know national and individual brands, just take a look here. I wanted to get to the bottom of what they exactly they are off

Do you ever feeling like your are trying to manage everything? Even how people think, respond and their outlook on life? Yikes! I have had to learn to surrender some of my "management" skills when I realized that I had a death grip on a few too many things!  I have come to the conclusion that holding on so tightly to joy (an other people's joy) well, squeezes all the joy away. Easy for me to type and easy for you to read but much harder to do in real life! It always seems that the holidays magnify anything  that needs work in your spirit.     Tune in to this short podcast today. You might relate to my ride as I try to take my loop do loop roller coaster down to kiddie ride.  I realized I had too many roads coming into my rotary and I knew I needed to step back and surrender the timing of some of my "big plans." My conclusion surrendering is what we need during the holidays or we miss the joy of the entire season. My amazon's Author page now show

I have fun treat for you today, (ok and for me) because her art speaks right to the glamourous side of me -not the sweat pants side of me!!  Holly Nichols is with me and she is sharing her rapid rise, how she went from student to full time illustrator in a very short amount of time. What was her biggest key to success? Finding what SHE liked to illustrate and leveraging Instagram! I just love it when someone younger than I am teaches me a new way of looking at things. In this interview, you will hear how she went from 1 k to 18k followers (now 19k since our interview) in under a year! Pretty amazing, right? She was disciplined BUT not necessarily in the ways you would expect so be sure and tune in. Holly was one smart cookie as she went about her posting her work and growing her following. It has led to some pretty EXCITING opportunities coming up in her future! Tune in to this episode to listen in to Holly's story! You can see all her chic work on her website. You can follow her on i